Squirrel

Monday, February 28, 2011

This is an archived photo that some of my loyal followers will remember. It was taken on a rainy day two summers ago in Maine at a restaurant off of Jordan Pond. We sat at a window table and enjoyed hot pop overs and salad. It was our first year to visit Maine and it seemed grand and yet mysterious to be in a new state that is so far away from our home.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

I need to take a photograph of an old barn worthy enough to be entered into a photo contest. The deadline is Monday. Maybe today I can find one, but nothing out there is old and picturesque. Our county governments tax farm buildings for profit so most new landowners immediately tear them down. Not only are the barns gone but most of the outbuildings go also. I did drive through town to see if there was one barn left worthy of a shot. The one I wanted to snap had been stripped of all it's character, no lean to sheds and porches. It even had a sign on it that they sold mules, but all of that is gone.

This is actually a two car garage of the 20's with a shed roof addition added on to have more space for storage. Time will tell if I find a shot or not. I want to find one without driving for miles out of my way to get it.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

I have posted about this book on my Sepia Saturday site. It was a gift from D.W. Webster to Callie Alexander. It was dated December 25, 1883 which meant that it probably was a Christmas gift to Mrs. Alexander. An older photo of her is on the right standing by the chair.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

When I left my job at school a couple years back I had a lot of clearing of things to do. I had been with the school for 31 years. I left the tricycle behind for the next teacher to use as a still life drawing model.

The trike actually was one that my dad had pulled out of the dump. It had been run over by a vehicle and was all bent up. My dad hammered it back into shape and Aaron would get to ride on it when he was visiting Grandparents. Eventually it came home with us. I had forgotten that I left it behind, but pictures of it are all I need to own. When I saw it sitting out,when I arrived to sub in the room on Thursday, I was pleased to see it.

The front tire is worn out, or rotted out. I can remember high school boys trying to ride this thing, which would have been a funny sight. I like that the tassels of plastic are still on the handles.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

I learned to type on a keyboard like this. I find it amazing how hard we had to push those keys to get the little arms with the letters attached to the end of them to fly up to hit that ribbon. The sound is so plastic now compared to the past sound of this keyboard.

Do your remember the sound of the bell as you were headed to the far right side of the paper? I never knew how many keys I could hit after the bell, but it did make me look up to see how close to the end of the line that I was before I had to hit the return arm and swing the carriage back to the left side of the paper.

Friday, February 18, 2011

My shed remains stuffed with stuff I don't need. This is an archived photo again as I am being held hostage at school again today. I can't download photos here in my free time so I just am using photos from the past. The wooden purple sculpture is an example I made for students to view while they created their own masterpieces. I need some warm weather to refinish a cupboard that now sits in the shed and I need to high grade my things more and toss more into the garbage. It is also full of garden tools and buckets that can be brought back out into the out of doors.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Another archived photo of what will be in a few months. We are really melting today but the snow will not be all gone. We have a Mongolia tree in front of the school that is really budding so there is life promising to return to Iowa.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Some days I just post a photo of something because I like the color and the shine. I know nothing about this jar. It sits in one of my old cupboards and I don't know who owned it before me. It could have been my father in law's and it could have been found in a auction sale cardboard box. It's just a nice green jar. What's not to like?

Monday, February 14, 2011

This is an old photo from a year ago that I took of my three male cardinals. This is a different year weather wise as we have not had the heavy snowfall. We have snow but not fifteen inches or more all over the ground. Because of the less snow have not had as many birds at the feeder. I had three pair of cardinals last year and this year I rarely see just one pair.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

As a photographer I try to find new ways to shoot things. I wanted to make this into a header but time has run out. I have seen a field full of thirty deer on Saturday, but I had not a camera. I have melting snow in which to shoot pictures but snow is boring. I guess I will stay on this theme of old valentine cards and promise to get out there and shoot something new and refreshing. Have a great Sunday.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

As I have found myself in a rut sharing about round things I will share this one last photo of marbles. My house was built in 1903 and as I would dig in the garden I will pick these up out of the soil. I really didn't know what they were at first and but I knew they were hard and didn't break.

As the years went by I did discover that these are the earlier bisque fired marbles. In pottery, when greenware is fired for the first time, the result is bisque pottery. That is raw unglazed clay, fired once.

These marbles were the early toys of boys and girls in this country. I am sure they were less expensive to buy rather than the glass ones that followed. Some child that lived in this house in it's early years of inhabitants played with these spheres of clay. They pretty much are the same size as the glass marbles of today. As you can see one of these is a larger shooter marble.

Just as the glass marbles wash ashore along the beaches, it is said that the bisque marbles also wash up on the shore.

Friday, February 11, 2011

When in the 60's and I was a kid, I could buy cat eyes at the dimestore. This reminds me of them but I am not certain that this is a true cat eye. I also remember as a kid that people would heat up their clear glass marbles in an old coffee can on the cooking stove, then drop them in water to crystallize them. It didn't always work and it would sometimes just shatter the marble.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

I keep finding marbles as I move through life and this jar is almost full. I have an antique toy plane laying on the top of the heap as I haven't put it away in the right place in the toy boxes. It gives one a better perspective of the size of the marbles and of the toy plane too.

Monday, February 7, 2011

The light against dark repeats a wonderful line pattern. The sun helped to make this a more striking photo. The cold winter sky is a perfect backdrop. Actually is was cold that day but we are being told that an arctic blast is coming our way and 9 degrees F. will be our high today.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Thursday, February 3, 2011

I am jealous of all you border collie owners who can get such dramatic close shots of your dogs. Barney being a rescued dog from the streets has a lot of unknown history. He thinks you are going to hurt him if you toss a frisbee his way and the camera is an contraption that is sure to cause bodily harm. So I sneak close shots and he never will look into the camera. He is waiting for me to open the door and he is tolerating dad snapping this of him.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

My Japanese gate seems to be a safe haven from weather when you are outside in a storm. I took this because a carpenter really enjoys seeing work like this. It makes a nice looking design as a photo too.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Snow plows are working hard and the schools are closing. The wind is gusting and creating drifts with little effort. The temperatures are dropping and the birds are really hungry at the feeder today. It's a good day for cookies and tea and watching the world from inside our dining room window.